Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ‘mujra’ remark against Opposition leaders and said that he had “insulted Bihar” by making such a comment.
Mr. Kharge, during his day-long tour of Bihar where he addressed an election rally in Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency and a congregation in Patna city, said, “Modi ji insulted Bihar by using this word... It means mujra happens here. This is an insult to Bihar and its people. This is not how a PM should talk. He should be talking in a statesman-like manner.”
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The Congress president’s attack came after Mr. Modi vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservation by the INDIA bloc, which he accused of being “enslaved” and performing “mujra” for its Muslim vote bank.
“Bihar is the land that has given a new direction to the fight for social justice. I wish to declare from this soil that I will foil the plans of the INDIA bloc to rob the SCs, STs and OBC of their rights and divert those to Muslims. They may remain enslaved and perform ‘mujra’ to please their vote bank,” the Prime Minister had said while addressing a poll rally in the State on Saturday.
Mr. Kharge further said, “PM Modi considers himself as a ‘Tees Maar Khan’ (a person who glorifies himself). He is under the wrong impression. It is the people who are real ‘Tees Maar Khan’. He (Modi) is like a dictator. If he returns to power for a third term, people will not be allowed to speak freely. People will not be able to enjoy their right to speech.”
He alleged that the BJP was spreading communal hatred to divert the attention of the people from issues that mattered.
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“Neither the PM nor other BJP leaders will talk about issues such as growing unemployment or price rise. They are spreading communal hatred. The forces that are attacking the Constitution and spreading the politics of hate... must be defeated. They are dividing this country on the lines of religion and caste,” he alleged.
The Election Commission must take action against those who make such hate speeches, he added.
Mr. Kharge claimed that the Prime Minister was lying that the Congress would impose an inheritance tax if voted to power.
“This election is very crucial... It’s an election to save democracy and the Constitution. We have to fight unitedly. This election is basically ‘people vs Modi’ and not ‘Rahul vs Modi’,” he claimed.
The Congress president said he respected Mr. Modi as he was the Prime Minister but claimed that the latter did not respect leaders of the grand old party.
Claiming that Prime Minister “exploits people emotionally”, Mr. Kharge said, “In my 53 years of political career, I have never played an emotional card like Modi ji. I lost my mother and sister in my childhood in a fire tragedy at our house. But I never say these things in public meetings.”
“He (Modi) knows only to abuse Sonia ji, Rahul ji and other Congress leaders. He hugs the rich and not the poor. His government neglected the rights and welfare of the underprivileged sections,” he alleged.
Mr. Kharge said the Modi government had neglected the rights and welfare of the underprivileged sections.
Congress has fielded Manoj Kumar from Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency, and Anshul Avijit from Patna Sahib. Voting will take place in Sasaram, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Karakat and Jehanabad Lok Sabha constituencies in the last phase on June 1.
